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The club says the lawsuit "comes after years of refusal by IFAS to respond to legitimate questions asked by the Sierra Club." The records it wants include information about IFAS's papers on urban fertilizer regulations and how they were reviewed. Those papers were used to lobby against the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's fertilizer recommendations, the club says.

“It makes absolutely no sense why IFAS would make it so difficult to obtain public documents supporting a publication relied on by so many government agencies in the state," said the club's lawyer, Robert Hartsell. "It certainly calls into question the efficacy of the publication itself.”

A UF spokeswoman said university leaders are now reviewing the complaint and are not yet prepared to comment.

About the blog

Gradebook features education articles and insights on schools in Florida, focusing on Tampa Bay area schools. What's the latest from the Florida Department of Education? How is the FCAT being used to compare Florida schools? What's going on in Tampa Bay schools? Get an insider's view from the Times education reporting team.